


I Love Camping

by JoMouse



Series: Imagine Sterek Events [10]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Boys Kissing, Camping, Don' copy to another site, Established Relationship, Future Fic, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Pillow & Blanket Forts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-27
Updated: 2020-07-27
Packaged: 2021-03-06 03:41:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,212
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25556770
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JoMouse/pseuds/JoMouse
Summary: Stiles hates camping. He's always hated camping, but when his boyfriend, the Alpha, suggests a Pack camping trip, he can't say 'no'.What could possibly go wrong surrounded by supernaturals?
Relationships: Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski, Lydia Martin/Jackson Whittemore, Scott McCall/Kira Yukimura, Vernon Boyd/Erica Reyes
Series: Imagine Sterek Events [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1586374
Comments: 10
Kudos: 207
Collections: A Very Sterek Summer fest 2020, Another Present Under the Tree





	I Love Camping

**Author's Note:**

> Greetings and salutations.
> 
> So, I'm still on a roll and I hope this keeps up. 
> 
> Day 2 of [A Very Sterek Summer](HTTP://averystereksummer.tumblr.com) with the theme of Camp/Camping. Also a contribution to [Imagine-Sterek's Another Present Under the Tree](HTTP://imagine-sterek.tumblr.com) event with the theme of Blanket Forts/Pillow Forts.
> 
> I had a bit of fun writing this one. A certain occurrence is based on something that happened to us when I was younger and we were camping (unfortunately I was too young for me to remember it but it gets told a lot) so I was thrilled to be able to use it. See if you can guess what it was...
> 
> Big thanks to Jenn and [Marie](HTTP://quietzap.tumblr.com) for coming through in a pinch AGAIN for me and betaing quickly. I couldn't do half of what I do without these two beautiful people in my life.
> 
> Also, big thanks to my bosses for giving me three days off (even if they have no idea why I wanted them).
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> xx-Joey
> 
> Don't know 'em. Don't own 'em. Don't show 'em.

Stiles Stilinski hated camping. He’d hated camping for as long as he could remember. He’d hated it since the time he’d gone with Scott and his dad and the man had decided to ‘teach him to swim’ by throwing him into the pond and he’d nearly drowned and ended up with leeches in places that boys should not get leeches. He still had nightmares about those blood sucking critters. He’d hated it since the time he’d gone with his dad and gotten lost in the woods following a skunk and ended up not only getting sprayed but covered head to toe in poison ivy and had spent the rest of the trip stuck inside the tent pink with calamine lotion.

Speaking of tents, there was the time he’d let Scott convince him to go camping in the preserve overnight and they’d set the tent up on top of an ant hill and spent the entire night itching while tearing down the camp and driving home. That was when Stiles had declared that he would never go camping again.

So, of course, he found himself sitting in the passenger seat of Derek’s Toyota filled with camping equipment heading towards certain death because no one said no to Derek when he set his mind to something. Besides, the smile on his boyfriend’s face when he’d agreed to go had almost been worth it.

He had no idea where they were headed but the caravan of vehicles was long so he hoped there would be plenty of space for all of the tents. He shuddered as he thought about the tents, scratching at his arm where the worst of the bites had been. He fiddled with the Rubik’s cube that had been sitting in the cup holder when they’d gotten into the vehicle, a look at Derek’s face telling him it’s been left there just to keep Stiles occupied during the several hour drive to whatever camping haven he’d chosen.

They pulled off the expressway and drove a couple of miles into a small town that looked like it was out of the beginning of a horror movie; Stiles added getting brutally murdered to his list of fears for the weekend. As they climbed out of their vehicles to go into a diner located in the middle of a block of different businesses, he scrubbed his hands through his hair to dissipate some of the energy flowing through them, stopping when Derek took his hand and squeezed it, pulling him into the diner. He shoved Stiles into a booth, squeezing in next to him, keeping a steadying hand on his knee through the entire meal.

Once they were done eating, they headed into the general store a few doors down, the group filling up nearly the entire building, the man behind the counter looking torn between fear of strangers and ecstasy at the thought of how much money they’d be spending. One by one, the Pack added items to the counter while Stiles fidgeted in the doorway, wondering if they could make a break for it. When his eyes fell on the guy behind the counter, he reevaluated his behavior and realized he was probably making the guy think he was a lookout for a robbery. Sighing, he walked over to where Derek was looking over the shelves of books and other activities.

“It’s hard to play board games in a tent, but cards would probably work. We can find something to use as a table.” Derek nodded and grabbed a couple packs of playing cards as well as Phase 10 and Uno. He also picked up a book that looked pretty boring to Stiles but would probably be exactly what Derek wanted.

As they headed to the counter to add their choices to the ever-growing pile, Derek paused by the large display of candies and gestured. Stiles looked at the candy and back at him, eyebrows raised in confusion. Huffing, he grabbed an entire box of Reece’s peanut butter cups as well as a couple more candy bars, placing them under his arm and headed towards the counter. Grinning, Stiles grabbed a couple of bags of trail mix and beef jerky as he hurried after him.

Another hour later, they were pulling up to the entrance gates of the State Park where they would be camping. Stiles waited in the Toyota while Derek and Scott went into the Ranger Station to get themselves checked in. Stiles glanced over his shoulder and saw the rest of the pack climbing out of vehicles. Kira and Cora were stretching next to Cora’s car talking to Isaac. Erica and Boyd were talking to Lydia and Jackson, gesturing wildly but smiling brightly so Stiles had no cause for concern. If only Cora and Isaac were dating, this would be a massive couples’ trip.

He startled when Derek opened the door, a big smile on his face. Stiles could practically taste his excitement and tried his best to fake a smile for him but he could see that he wasn’t convincing. He’d done such a good job of faking enthusiasm until this point and when Derek climbed into the Toyota and closed the door, he prepared for having to come clean.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, watching him out of the corner of his eye as he started the car to head towards the parking lot where they would leave the vehicles.

“I hate camping,” he mumbled into his hands, ducking when Derek swatted gently at his shoulder. “I hate camping!” he shouted, shoulders dropping and he swore he saw Boyd’s truck veer slightly on the road directly behind them.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Derek asked. “We’ve been planning this for months and you never once said, ‘Hey, Derek, can we maybe do another bonding experience because I  _ hate  _ camping?’!” He said it in a voice that Stiles knew was supposed to be a mimicry of him but wasn’t anywhere close and just offended him.

“You were excited.”

“I was excited to be going with you,” Derek said. “It didn’t matter if we went camping or Disneyland.” He pulled into a parking spot and turned the car off, turning in the seat to face Stiles and taking his hand. “The important thing was spending this weekend together. It didn’t matter where.”

“We could’ve gone to Disneyland?” Stiles asked, turning to face the front. “Let’s go then.”

Derek dropped his head and Stiles saw the fond smirk he was trying to hide. “Since we are here, can you at least  _ try _ ...for me?”

“Fine,” Stiles muttered, but his mind was already going over the millions of ways this camping trip could go as horribly wrong as all previous expeditions.

Derek sighed but got out of the car and Stiles had a moment to feel bad that he’d managed to ruin Derek’s excitement. He took a deep breath and made the decision to at least fake enthusiasm for Derek’s sake because ruining his well-deserved fun would be worse than anything else that could possibly go wrong.

Stiles helped unload the vehicles and wandered around the site checking the ground for anthills or anything else that might cause problems for the tents. He was checking the rocks around the firepit for breaks that flames could escape through and pulling out his phone to check the Wildland Fire Assessment System when his phone was snatched out of his hands. He whirled around to shout at the thief and found Derek looking concerned.

“Your heartbeat is insane. It’s getting to everyone else,” he said, jerking a chin towards the rest of the pack where they were putting up their tents and watching them out of the corners of their eyes. 

“Fuck,” Stiles said, kicking at the ground and unearthing a small stone that bounced against Derek’s shin; he was already ruining the trip for everyone. “Maybe I should take one of the cars and just head home.”

“You haven’t even tried,” Derek responded, nearly whining, making Stiles feel even worse but he nodded and followed Derek over to where a large canvas bag sat. “This is our tent.”

Stiles looked between theirs and others, noting the bag was nearly three times as big as the three-room tent that Boyd, Erica, Isaac and Cora were sharing; Lydia and Jackson choosing to sleep in the back of the SUV that Lydia had rented for the weekend, claiming there was no way she was sleeping that close to the ground. 

“How many people are you planning on sleeping in here?” Stiles asked as they pulled the tent out of the bag. He glanced up when Derek didn’t answer, noting the pink of his ears. “You wanted to be sure there was enough room for everyone to gather in one space. You’re such a Softywolf.”

“Shut up, Stiles,” Derek responded, but he was still smiling as they worked together putting up the tent.

Once it was standing fully, Stiles went inside and walked from one end to the other before running back again, almost laughing before he noticed a bump in the floor near the edge of the room. Kneeling, he ran his hand over it, trying to figure out if it was a rock or even an ant hill he’d missed on his first assessment.

He was still rubbing his hand over it when Derek came in carrying the California King Air Mattress and a way more sleeping bags than one person would need. “Are those all for us?”

“I thought you might want to make the room into a blanket fort,” Derek told him. “Plus, it’s going to get cold tonight.”

He didn’t point out that he would have his own personal werewolf heater to keep him warm because blanket forts were cool. Jumping to his feet, the mysterious bump pushed to the back of his mind, he grabbed some of the sleeping bags out of his arms while Derek moved to start setting up the blower to inflate the air mattress. “Which room do you want?” he asked.

Stiles stood in the center taking in the four offshoots to each side that were technically identical. He spun in a slow circle a couple of times, immediately ruling out the one with the bump in the floor and finally settling on the one directly across from it because if that was an ant hill, it would take them longer to crawl from there. It was also the furthest from the center of camp and prying werewolf ears. 

Derek followed him into the offshoot and started blowing up the air mattress while Stiles figured out how to close the canvas divider, wanting to make sure that area was just for him and Derek, no other scents invading. The mattress filled quickly and Derek left him to set the room up the way they wanted, pressing a kiss to the top of his head as they went.

“Derek,” he whispered and Derek made an inquiring noise from the center of the tent where he’d stopped moving. “Can you make sure that’s not an ant hill under the opposite room?” He was being quiet because he was embarrassed and he heard Derek shuffle around before exiting the tent and the next thing he knew, the tent shifted slightly before settling down.

A couple of minutes later, Derek came back inside and held out his hand, displaying a small flat piece of bark. Stiles covered his burning cheeks but muttered his thanks anyway. Derek let out a soft chuckle and carried the bark back outside and Stiles sat with his face in his hands listening to Derek talking quietly with the other leaves. Once his embarrassment had faded a little bit, he got to work attempting to hang the blankets using the small bag of zipties he’d found in the stack. He let out a quiet squeal when he found several strings of fairy lights at the bottom. This was going to be the best blanket fort ever.

Stiles hadn’t even noticed the sun starting to set until he could barely see what he was doing. He’d managed to line all of the walls of the room in the tent with different blankets and even draped one over the top. It might have been overkill but it almost made him forget he was in a tent. Turning on the flashlight on his phone he aimed it upwards as he started looping the fairy lights around the rooms, allowing a string to hang down to the floor in each corner. 

Finally, he grabbed the sheets and started making up the air mattress. He and Derek debated just using sleeping bags but they didn’t want to be separated like that, so they brought along the sheets from the bed in Derek’s loft. He was wrestling one corner of the fitted sheet when Derek ducked his head inside and looked around with a low whistle.

“This is even better than the one you built at that cabin you rented,” he said and Stiles smiled at the memory. 

“Didn’t bring my laptop to play the fireplace video,” Stiles countered, grinning at the memory from early in their relationship. “Help me with this sheet.”

Derek stepped in fully and did. He continued to help until the bed was fully made up with several blankets and Stiles’ pillow. Stiles was just about to pull Derek down onto the bed with him when his head snapped up and Stiles wanted to make a dog joke just to be contrary.

“Dinner’s ready,” Derek told him and Stiles pouted before crawling off the bed, slipping his shoes on before exiting the tent. Derek stayed in the tent and Stiles assumed he was changing clothes.

The Pack was sitting on a couple of picnic tables and the smell of burgers filled the air. Stiles approached one of the tables slowly, checking the ground around it for bugs or animals and finally sat down. He looked up to find Derek watching him with amusement so Stiles forced a smile, reminding himself that he’d promised Derek he’d try to have a good time.

He ate quietly, listening to the Pack talk about their plans for the weekend, nodding along without contributing much. Scott and Kira were planning to go swimming and there was no way Stiles was going to risk another leech incident. Erica and Boyd were going to go hiking and Stiles was going to avoid poison ivy at all costs. Cora and Isaac were debating between the two activities.

“You gonna come with me?” Scott asked Stiles directly, smile wide on his face until he shook his head and turned his attention to the burger in his hand. “C’mon, man.”

“I don’t think swimming is on Stiles’ to do list since the kanima incident,” Derek said.

“I apologized!” Jackson said, earning a smack from Lydia.

“Doesn’t erase the two hours of holding me up, does it?” Derek asked and the conversation died abruptly.

When they were done eating and had cleaned up their garbage, the group moved to sit around the firepit. Stiles sat back a little further with Derek who was still watching it with some distrust but did move close enough to roast a marshmallow to make s’mores. He even made one with a peanut butter cup for Stiles and presented it with a shy smile. 

The moon rose high into the sky and Stiles could see the energy quivering under Derek’s skin and could tell the others felt it as well. “Go,” he whispered to Derek. “Lydia and I will be fine here.”

“You sure?” Derek asked and Stiles nodded. Grinning, Derek pressed a kiss to the top of his head and started stripping and within moments stood in his full-shift in front of Stiles, licking his hand clean of marshmallow before running off into the woods, the Pack following.

Stiles glanced across the fire at Lydia who was on her phone; he had no idea who she was texting since everyone they spent time with was out in the woods running around and having a great time. Stiles smiled and shook his head as he leaned back in his chair, staring up at the night sky through the trees. He saw a couple of bats fly by and pulled his hood up over his hair, tugging it down low. 

Lydia laughed and when Stiles looked over, she was standing up with a stretch and heading to the SUV. She grabbed a bag out of the back and told Stiles she was heading to the showers. He waved her off and turned his attention back to the sky until he realized that he was completely alone. Sitting up, he felt his muscles tensing and he rubbed his hands over his thighs.

Concentrating, he could hear the Pack in the woods, howling and yipping and playing. He focused on that instead of every other sound coming from the woods around him. Once his breathing was back under control and his muscles relaxed, he turned to reach for the bag of marshmallows left in the chair that Derek had vacated. 

His hands froze and he let out a high-pitched screech as he spotted the raccoon kicked back in the chair, a bag of marshmallows in its lap, reaching in and putting one into its mouth as Stiles gaped at him. Even his screech hadn’t disturbed him but the giant wolf bounding out of the woods and knocking over the chair in his haste to get to Stiles, sent the critter running into the woods, dragging the bag in its teeth.

Derek was growling and shoving Stiles towards the tent, head swinging side to side and nose scenting the air. A few moments later, Scott and Jackson burst out of the woods and Derek whipped around and snarled at them before identifying them and calming down. He turned and used his nose to push Stiles into the tent, shifting back as soon as they were both inside and turning to zip it shut, giving Stiles an excellent view of his naked ass that he would totally take advantage of if he weren’t still freaking out.

“What happened?” Derek asked, rushing to his side and running his hands over his arms and sniffing his neck. Stiles could see him gripping his wrist, searching for pain to pull but there wasn’t any physical pain, just mental.

“I hate camping!” Stiles shouted. “I knew this was a mistake. I want to go home!”

“What happened?” Derek repeated, wrapping his arms around Stiles and pulling him against his chest, burying his face in his neck. Stiles would really be appreciating it if he weren’t so damn angry.

“A raccoon stole the marshmallows!” Stiles screamed. “I thought I’d seen it all and then a fucking raccoon bogarts the goodies right out of your chair! Little masked bandit, taking the-” Stiles cut himself off when he felt Derek trembling against him. “Are you laughing? At me?”

“No, no,” Derek said, his lips pressed together but the corners twitching up as short huffed breaths escaped Derek’s nose that eventually became full-on snorts when Stiles tried to shove him away and succeeded only in stumbling more fully into Derek. 

“I hate you,” Stiles hissed. “And I hate camping. I’m taking the Toyota. You can ride home with Lydia and Jackson.” He pushed at Derek’s arms wrapped around his waist, nearly cheering when he finally let go and Stiles stepped back to go gather his stuff together.

He pushed aside the blanket he’d hung as a curtain so he could grab his pillow from the bed and froze. The room was even brighter than he’d expected; along with the fairy lights he’d hung, there were dozens of battery operated candles lining the floor and rose petals scattered over the blankets. Lying on his pillow was a small box and his heart tripped over itself. 

He turned to look over his shoulder and found Derek standing where he’d left him but dressed again in the jeans and henley he’d taken off to shift. His feet were bare and Stiles focused on the way he rubbed one against the other before looking up at him. 

“What’s this?” he asked, gesturing behind himself.

“Happy anniversary?” Derek said, sounding more unsure than Stiles had heard him since long before he’d become Alpha. 

“Anniversary?” Stiles asked, his mind going over a mental calendar and focusing on the date. It wasn’t their first date, nor their first kiss. It wasn’t the first time they’d slept together or said, “I love you.” 

“Ten years ago today, a couple of punk kids were wandering around private property looking for an inhaler,” Derek told him, shrugging when Stiles gaped at him. “Ten years ago, I knew I’d met my mate even if I was too afraid to say anything.”

“I can’t believe I didn’t remember,” Stiles said. Ten years ago the night before, Scott had been bitten and both of their lives had been thrown into turmoil before becoming the happy situation it had become and he couldn’t believe he’d forgotten it.

“I’m actually glad you didn’t,” Derek told him, moving closer. “That way this was a surprise, although I really didn’t plan for it to go as badly as it did.”

“You mean you didn’t hire a raccoon to scare the bejeezus out of me?” Stiles teased, holding his arms open and letting out a grunt when Derek tackled him onto the mattress, the blanket falling shut behind them. 

“You aren’t hurt, though?”

“Just my pride,” Stiles told him. “I’m sure the pack is having a good laugh at me right now.”

Derek tilted his head and smiled. “They’re all just worried about you. Scott didn’t realize just how much you hated camping. He was telling us in the woods about the leeches and the poison ivy and the ant hill. He knew you’d had bad experiences but didn’t realize they’d made you literally hate camping.”

“Scott’s an idiot,” Stiles said, laughing when there was a loud sound of objection from outside the tent. “Go to bed, Scott!” he called and then the Pack called out their goodnights. The flickering of the fire disappeared and he was relieved someone had thought to put it out.

“We should probably get ready for bed,” Stiles said after a minute.

“You’re not leaving, then?” Derek asked, genuine worry creasing his brow.

“Hate driving at night,” Stiles told him with a smile, pressing a quick kiss to the tip of his nose before climbing off the mattress to grab his pajamas. 

They both changed quickly and as Stiles started to climb back into the bed, his eyes fell on the box on his pillow. He glanced up at Derek as he settled next to him and reached out for the box, tossing it back and forth between his hands for a minute before stopping and opening it. Nestled in black velvet was a silver ring engraved with vines around the perimeter and in the very center was a triskele. 

“I’m not the one who’s good with words,” Derek started, “so, I’m going to keep this really short and to the point. Mieczysław Stilinski, will you marry me?”

Stiles opened his mouth to say yes when a shadow fell over the tent and grumbling was heard from outside. Loud snuffling shook the base of the tent and Stiles buried his head in his hands. “Is that a bear?”

Derek nodded as he opened his mouth, fangs extending and he let out a loud roar. Stiles could hear a couple of whimpers from the other tents before the bear lumbered off, hopefully never to return. Once he was gone, a hissing noise filled the tent and Stiles closed his eyes and started chuckling as he felt the air mattress deflating beneath them. 

Derek dropped his forehead to Stiles’ chest and let out a groan before his laughter joined Stiles’. “We can go to a hotel,” Derek told him when the laughter had stopped. He started to climb off the mattress when Stiles snatched the box out of his hands and sliding the ring onto his own finger.

“Hell, no, we’re staying right here and I’m spending the weekend camping with my fiancé,” Stiles told him and they both laughed again when cheers went up from the other tents.

“I love you,” Derek said, pulling him into a kiss that turned into a makeout session until the mattress had completely deflated. 

Working together, they pulled down all of the blankets that had made up the blanket fort and stacked them together until they created a decent cushion and then curled up on top of it, pulling the last of the blankets over themselves. Stiles laid his head on Derek’s chest, his hand splayed across his abs as Stiles studied the ring, grinning when it glinted red and Stiles glanced up to see Derek flashing his eyes at him.

“I love you, too,” Stiles finally replied to Derek’s earlier statement before sighing and snuggling closer and closing his eyes. He sighed as Derek’s hand ran gently up and down his spine.

“Still hate camping?” Derek asked around a yawn.

“Are you kidding? I  _ love  _ camping,” Stiles mumbled just as he tipped over the edge into sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> Come say 'hi' on tumblr! I'm josjournal over there!


End file.
